Tricksters con thousands of pounds from Doncaster OAPs

CRIME: Crime scene.

Stephanie Bateman

Two conmen tricked elderly Doncaster residents out of thousands of pounds in the space of a few hours.

Police are appealing for witnesses and information about the incidents which happened at Barnby Dun and Moorends on Tuesday, March 25.

The culprits first struck at a home on Herrick Road, Barnby Dun, at around 10.30am. The pair advised the 80-year-old male resident that he needed repairs to his roof, costing £350.

The householder agreed to the work and went inside to get money. One man followed him around his home, until the cash was handed over. He then left along with the second man – without doing any repairs.

At around 1.30pm, the conmen attended a house at Newfield Avenue, Moorends, and again told the occupants, an elderly couple, that they needed work on their roof, to which they agreed.

The 78-year-old man paid £800 to the trickster who’d entered the earlier property and also went inside the Moorends home.

The male householder later left to attend an appointment leaving his wife, also aged 78 years, alone in the house.

The conmen then returned at around 2.45pm and the man who’d received the cash asked to use the toilet on two occasions before the pair left. When the woman’s husband came back, they discovered £3,000 had been stolen from the house.

The man who went inside the homes is described as white, aged in his late thirties, six feet tall, of slim build, with fair hair, a long face and biggish teeth.

His accomplice is also a white man, five feet six inches tall, thick set, with a beard, messy hair and a fattish face.

The pair used a white Astra van with AJ Roofline written on the side and the registration EF04 ZHX.

Officers have carried out house-to-house enquiries, but are still appealing for further information about the incidents.

Anyone who can help should ring South Yorkshire Police on: 101 and quote incident number 427 of 25 March, 2014, regarding the Barnby Dun matter and incident number 886 of 25 March, 2014, about the Moorends distraction theft. Alternatively, people can call Crimestoppers anonymously on: 0800 555111.